1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for driving a touchpad of a portable terminal. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for driving a touchpad of a portable terminal, which includes the touchpad and a multimedia processor controlling the touchpad.
2. Description of the Related Art
Portable communication terminals have been widely used for some time. Most recently, portable terminals have tended to be multimedia devices which have the ability to perform various advanced functions. Specifically, portable terminals combined with a Portable Multimedia Player (PMP) and portable terminals which can provide a multimedia function, have been rapidly developed. These portable terminals have a multimedia processor embedded therein, which can perform a multimedia function.
Portable terminals providing a multimedia function may have a touchpad that can sense input signals exerted thereon by the user's fingers, pens, and the like. The touchpad provides an efficient user interface and a more convenient method of using the multimedia functions.
However, in these portable terminals having a touchpad, the embedded multimedia processor controls the touchpad with a polling method. Accordingly, battery power is unnecessarily consumed in order to keep the user interface with the touchpad active.
Furthermore, when the multimedia processor enters or is converted to a sleep mode, it cannot recognize input signals from the touchpad even though the user presses the touchpad. Hence, there is a problem in that the user interface cannot be maintained with the touchpad.